


5 People Who Noticed Something Wrong with Noctis

by nickofhearts



Series: let's watch this city burn [2]
Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Daemon!Noct AU, Gen, The Bad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-02
Updated: 2017-02-02
Packaged: 2018-09-21 14:23:09
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,404
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9552680
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/nickofhearts/pseuds/nickofhearts
Summary: +1 Who Always Knew





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [dreamingcicadas](https://archiveofourown.org/users/dreamingcicadas/gifts).



> dear dreamingcicadas, don't you dare 'oh nooo' me at the end of this. _this was all your idea_.

**1.**

They were in the process of vacating their room at the Leville, Noct having finally decided they were ready to move on after so many days of deferring the decision. Prompto and Gladiolus had already headed downstairs with handfuls of their belongings, and Ignis was giving the room one last walk-through, making sure they hadn't missed anything.

He sighed, knocking on the bathroom door when he'd finished and Noct still hadn't come out. "Your Highness, are you ready to make way?"

Noct unlocked the door, though he was still looking in the mirror and fixing his hair. "Jeez Iggy, give me a break. Who knows when the next time we'll have a _real_ bathroom is."

Ignis stood stock still, because for just a brief second, Noct's face had been a reflection of the daemon that had cursed him—a mess of gnarled black veins in place of the perfectly smooth skin Ignis knew Noct spent an inordinate amount of time in the mornings taking care of.

"Something the matter, Specs?" Noct asked him, the smile he was giving Ignis now seeming _off_ somehow, but surely that was just Ignis' mind playing tricks on him still.

Ignis shook his head to clear the vision.

Perhaps he hadn't had enough sleep the night prior; there was nothing wrong with Noctis now that he could see.

 

**2.**

Noct had been particularly enthusiastic about hunts of late, and Gladio wasn't about to begrudge him a few hours of sleep for the late nights out they were more and more frequently spending exterminating vicious daemons that had been menacing the local populace. It was a job well done, and the rewards they got at the end of each hunt were only the icing on the cake.

Noct had _even_ been getting up early in the mornings, often returning from a brisk jog as Gladio exited the tent. 

It was good to see that he was finally taking some of Gladio's advice to heart.

The only thing was, there had been a few times when Gladio looked over at their prince during a battle to check how he was doing and make sure Noct hadn't gotten himself in a tight spot—no one wanted a repeat of the daemon incident that had led to Noct telling Ignis his cooking sucked and making them _all_ suffer the ensuing uncomfortable tension—but he could almost _swear_ that Noct's eyes were a glowing gold, shining in the dark.

It had to be a trick of the light, the angle making Noct's flashlight reflect into his eyes, but it was creepy as fuck.

 

**3.**

Noct had been acting weird lately, and not the kind of weird of the past week or so where he couldn't stop himself lying and thereby insulting everyone in a fifty mile radius with the most earnest of earnest faces on him. _That_ had been hilarious, if Prompto was being honest, and he had some grade A material for Noct's photo album that they could all look back on and laugh over some time in the future when this was all done. 

No, this was something else. 

Prompto had come up on him at the edge of the campsite, which wasn't that weird, Noct more than any of them needed moments to himself, to try and digest everything that was happening and put on a brave face for the next horrible thing that was bound to befall them, but Noct had been mumbling to himself, almost like he was arguing with someone that Prompto couldn't see.

"Hey buddy, you okay?" Prompto had asked, almost startling back when Noct turned to look at him.

It was like the expression on Noct's face didn't fit right, or _something else_ was wearing Noct's skin and hadn't quite figured out how human expressions worked, and Prompto immediately wanted to smack himself on the forehead for watching waaay too many horror movies because Noct having been replaced by bodysnatching aliens was not a reasonable explanation for Noct's weirdness under _any_ circumstances, and Noct was the one saying to him now, "uh, Prompto? Are _you_ okay?"

"Yes, fine," Prompto squeaked, and fled back to the other side of camp where Gladio was adding bits of wood to the fire, just in case.

 

**4.**

Cor saw them off on the boat to Altissia, a painful reminder of the journey he himself had taken with Regis what felt like a lifetime ago.

Noctis was younger than Regis had been at the time, and had so much more to burden him already. Cor hadn't agreed with Regis' decision not to tell Noctis the truth of the prophecy of the Chosen King, but it was too late to make amends for that now. He would abide by Regis' wishes and hope that when the time came, Noctis would be ready.

-

There was something strange about the way Noctis had been moving, and it didn't hit Cor until after they'd gone what it was. Noctis had seemed more comfortable in his body than Cor had ever seen him—no wasted movements, nothing like his usual lazy slouch or the way Noctis tended to hang back and let other people do the talking for him.

It was just as well that he was growing into himself, Cor thought. That amidst all this tragedy, something good might come of it.

 

**5.**

Luna knew immediately that something was wrong. She'd never seen an infection of the scourge like the one that had taken hold of Noctis, _actively_ malignant, so deep that even all her power might not be enough to heal it. There was blood on his hands already, wet streaks of it on his face, and his friends that should've been at his side were nowhere to be seen. 

She didn't want to believe that Noctis could've murdered them in cold blood, but all the evidence was before her.

" _Noctis_ ," she said, trying to reach through to the kind-hearted boy from her memories, but he only shrugged.

"Say hi to dad for me," he told her, before he flashed in front of her and long sharp claws were digging painfully into her ribs, stealing her life away.

Luna grabbed his hand though it was red with her blood, and used the last of her strength to purge as much of the scourge from him as she could. There was so much darkness in him, like someone had been _feeding_ it to him, and in the end, Luna couldn't do more than shove all the power that she had into him, to try and jar it loose.

Noctis was screaming, but when the last of the light faded away, she saw his eyes had returned to the clear sky blue that she remembered from childhood.

 

**+1.**

Noctis was crouched over Princess Lunafreya's body, shock and horror on his face as he shouted her name, shaking her like he thought she'd only fallen into a deep sleep.

Ardyn sighed, stepping leisurely off his airship.

The Oracle just _had_ to put her foot in it, didn't she? All that hard work getting Noctis to trust him against better judgments, and she'd almost undone it in a single moment of self-sacrifice. But it didn't matter now. Lunafreya was finished, and there would be no saving Prince Noctis.

"Oh _Noct_ ," Ardyn admonished him. "What _have_ you done." 

Noctis glared up at him, sharp teeth showing as he growled, not even realizing that his hands were already distorting into claws, cutting Princess Lunafreya anew where he was holding onto her.

How very convenient indeed, to have the prince fall into his hands all ready for the taking. Ardyn had hardly even had to push it along before Noctis was eating out of his hands. 

He let go of the illusion that hid his true face, baring his own teeth back.

Noctis resisted the pull this time, refusing to heel though all his delightful new instincts had to be telling him that Ardyn was the bigger monster here, and it was either submit or be devoured, but Ardyn would forgive him just this once. It _was_ only a token protest at best. After all, Noctis wanted to forget the horrors of the day, most of them by his own doing, and Ardyn could help with that.

It wasn't long before he was letting Ardyn pull him to his feet, press his mouth to the vulnerable flesh of Noctis' throat.

**Author's Note:**

> One more tragic porn coda for this verse coming up!


End file.
